Sources tell TSN that the NHL asked New York Islanders netminder Rick DiPietro to change his pads during the first intermission of Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers at Nassau Coliseum.

DiPietro played the first period in new white Itech leg pads, then returned for the second period wearing his old orange and blue pads.

NHL's executive vice-president and director of hockey operations, Colin Campbell and Islanders general manager Garth Snow are believed to have discussed the situation after DiPietro was ordered to change his pads. The two are expected to further discuss the matter on Friday.

The NHL rule book states any violation of specifics governing goalkeeper's equipment will result in an automatic two game suspension.
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"I got those pads about a week before I got hurt," DiPietro said after the game. "I started wearing them and breaking them in, and then started using them in the game. Apparently, they haven't gone through the NHL. I thought we cleared it. After warm-up, we found that we cleared it, but apparently, they weren't satisfied with that. We just found out after the first period that I had to switch to the old ones."

It will be up to Campbell to determine whether DiPietro's illegal equipment can be categorized as a "misunderstanding," whether the suspension will be upheld.

"I guess it's my fault, but I was under the impression that they had been approved. I thought I did the right thing. Once we found out after the warm-up that they hadn't been approved, we called and let them know and measured them and made sure they were legal. Everything measured out fine. It's their call."